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Southwest Ohio appreciates half-price appetizers and has a thing for Italian food — at least according to the results of this year's Best of Southwest voting contest. Sure, the choices are up for debate, but these are your picks, made through online voting and mail-in ballots over the past few months. If you don't agree, knock on your neighbor's door and make a date to argue it out — over coffee at Java Johnny's or breakfast at Bob Evan's. You have a year to test these places out before we open the polls again.

Best Restaurant

1. O'Charley's and Applebee's (tied); ocharleys.com, applebees.com.

2. Chipotle; chipotle.com.

3. Stefano's Italian Cafe; 2200 Central Ave., Middletown.

Best Family Restaurant

1. Applebee's; applebees.com.

2. Cracker Barrel; crackerbarrel.com.

3. Frisch's Big Boy; frischs.com.

Best Steakhouse

1. Longhorn; longhornsteakhouse.com.

2. Lonestar; lonestarsteakhouse.com.

3. Texas Roadhouse; texasroadhouse.com.

Best Asian

1. Golden Dragon; 86 N. Brookwood Ave., Hamilton.

2. Golden Dragon; 4536 Roosevelt Ave.,

Middletown.

3. P.F. Chang's, China Bistro; pfchangs.com.

Best Indian*

1. The Village; 7753 Tylersville Road, West Chester Twp.

1. Mayura Indian Restaurant, 3201 Jefferson Ave., Cincinnati.

1. Taj Mahal Indian Cuisine, 11778 Springfield Pike, Cincinnati.

* All received equal amount of votes

Best Italian

1. Olive Garden; olivegarden.com.

2. Bravo! Cucina Italiana; bravoitalian.com.

3. Stefano's Italian Cafe, 2200 Central Ave., Middletown.

Best Mexican

1. El Rancho Grande, 6601 Terhune Drive, Middletown.

2. Casa Grande, 4978 Union Centre Blvd., West Chester Twp.

3. El Mariachi, 787 N.W. Washington Blvd., Hamilton.

 

Best Barbecue

1. Smokey Bones; smokeybones.com.

2. City Barbecue; 7706 Voice of America Centre, West Chester Twp.; cityqbbq.com.

3. Montgomery Inn; montgomeryinn.com.

Best Breakfast

1. Bob Evan's; bobevans.com.

2. Cracker Barrel; crackerbarrel.com.

3. Original Pancake House; originalpancakehouse.com.

Best Buffet

1. Golden Corral; goldencorral.net.

2. Twin Dragon Chinese Buffet, 7763 Tylersville Road, West Chester Twp.; twindragonbuffet.com.

3. Hometown Buffet, 6850 Roosevelt Blvd., Middletown and China Buffet (tied), 531 S. Breiel Blvd., Middletown.

Best Pizza

1. Cassano's Pizza King; cassanos.com.

2. Larosa's; larosas.com.

3. Pizza Hut; pizzahut.com.

Best Burger

1. Red Robin Gourmet Burgers and Fuddrucker's (tied); redrobin.com, fuddruckers.com.

2. The Jug; 3610 Central Ave., Middletown.

3. Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers; wendys.com.

Best Ice Cream Parlor

1. Graeter's Ice Cream; graeters.com.

2. Flubs Dari-ette, 997 Eaton Ave., Hamilton.

3. United Dairy Farmers; udfinc.com.

Best Coffee House

1. Java Johnny's; 3534 Central Ave., Middletown; javajohnnys.com.

2. Starbucks Coffee; starbucks.com.

3. Kidd Coffee; kiddcoffee.com.

Best Festival

1. St. Susanna Catholic Festival

2. Bishop Fenwick High School Festival

3. Middfest; middfestinternational.org.

Best County Fair

1. Butler

2. Warren

3. Preble

Best Bar

1. Putters Tavern & Grill, 6575 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, West Chester Twp.; putterstavern.com.

2. Froggy Blues Cafe, 10 American Way, Suite A, Monroe.

3. Major Leagues, 611 Hamilton Cleves Road, Hamilton.

Best Karaoke

1. Crooked Nail Pub, 9303 Cincinnati Columbus Road, West Chester Twp.

2. Mustang Sally's Bar & Grille, 2104 Fairgrove Ave., Hamilton; mustangsallysbar.biz.

3. Putters Tavern & Grill, 6575 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, West Chester Twp.; putterstavern.com.

Best Local Band

1. Will Fluke; willfuke.com.

2. Bentwood Rockers; bentwoodrockers.com.

3. Superkreep; superkreep.com.

Best Place to Play Darts

1. Froggy Blues Cafe; 10 American Way, Suite A, Monroe.

2. Buster's Bar; 112 Charles St., Middletown.

3. Big Shots Bar; 2520 N. Verity Pkwy., Middletown.

 

Best Pool Hall

1. Jack's Rec Center; 1826 Central Ave., Middletown.

2. Snooker's Billiard and Sports; 12119 Princeton Pike, Cincinnati; snookersbilliards.net.

3. Michael's Billiards; 6625 Dixie Hwy., Fairfield.

Best Hangout for Teens

1. Game Junkie; 7132 Cincinnati-Dayton Road, West Chester Twp.; gamejunkie.com; and Galaxy CDs (tied); 1238 Main St., Hamilton; galaxydiscs.com.

2. Movie theaters

3. The Underground; 1140 Smiley Ave., Forest Park; theug.com.

Best Bowling Alley

1. Fairfield Lanes; 5181 Dixie Hwy., Fairfield; fairfieldlanes.com.

2. Eastern Bowling Lanes; 6942 Coles Road, Middletown; easternlanes.com; and Columbia Lanes (tied); 954 Hamilton Cleves Road, Hamilton; columbialanes.com.

3. Sports Bowl; 2804 Main St., Middletown; and Strike Zone Lanes (tied); 65 Millard Court, Springboro; jdlegends.com.

Best Golf Course

1. Wildwood Golf Club; 601 Aberdeen Drive, Middletown; wildwoodgc.com.

2. Weatherwax Golf Course; 5401 Mosiman Road, Middletown; weatherwaxgolf.com.

3. Brown's Run Country Club, 6855 Sloebig Road, Middletown; brownsruncc.com.

Best Health Food Store

1. GNC; gnc.com.

2. Jungle Jim's International Market,

5440 Dixie Hwy., Fairfield; junglejims.com.

3. Helen's Health Food, 1515 Central Ave., Middletown.

Best Sporting Goods Store

1. Dick's Sporting Goods; dickssportinggoods.com.

2. Dunham's; dunhamssports.com.

3. Bass Pro Shop; basspro.com.

Best Book Store

1. Barnes and Noble; barnsandnoble.com.

2. Books-A-Million; booksamillion.com.

3. Half Price Books and Borders (tied); halfpricebooks.com, borders.com.

Best Dance Club

1. Metropolis Night Club; 125 Forest Fair Drive, Cincinnati (at Cincinnati Mills mall); cincymetropolis.com.

2. Cheyenne Cattle Co.; 4737 Dixie Hwy., Fairfield; cheyennecattle.com.

3. Jeff Ruby's Tropicana; 1 Levee Way, Newport, Ky.

Best Record Shop

1. Galaxy CDs; 1238 Main St., Hamilton; galaxydiscs.com.

2. Barnes and Noble; barnsandnoble.com.

3. f.y.e. (for your entertainment); fye.com.

Best Retail Store

1. Kohl's and Elder Beerman (tied); kohls.com, elder-beerman.com.

2. JCPenney; jcpenney.com.

3. Charlotte Russe; charlotte-russe.com.

Best Thrift Store

1. Goodwill; goodwill.org.

2. Salvation Army; satruck.com.

3. Valley Thrift Store, 4301 Dixie Hwy., Fairfield.

Best Boutique

1. Claire's; claires.com.

2. Rue 21; rue21.com.

3. Fashion Bug; fashionbug.com.

Best Jeweler

1. Roger's Jewelers; rogers-jewelers.com.

2. Edgewood Jewelers; 715 W. State St., Trenton; edgewoodjewelers.com.

3. Friedman's; friedmans.com.

Best Car Repair

1. Koebbe Auto Tech & Tire; 6791 Lakota Lane, Liberty Twp.; koebbeautotech.net.

2. Eric's Auto Services; 1047 Millville Ave., Hamilton; ericauto.com.

3. Tony's Auto Service; 3410 Manchester Road, Middletown; and Meineke Car Care Center (tied); meineke.com.

Best Hair Salon

1. Options Hair Studio; 1220 Elliot Drive, Middletown.

2. Main Look; 1270 Eaton Ave., Hamilton.

3. KimHarper Salon and Spa; 5150 Socialville Foster Road, Mason.

Best Spa

1. Mitchell's Salon & Day Spa; mitchellssalon.com.

2. Local YMCAs; gmvymca.org.

3. Towne Athletic Club; 4343 S. Dixie Hwy., Franklin; towneathleticclub.com.

Best Place for a Romantic Dinner

1. Bravo! Cucina Italiana; bravoitalian.com; and Mesh (tied); 6200 Mulhauser Road, West Chester Twp.

2. The Manchester; 1027 Manchester Ave., Middletown; manchesterinn.com.

3. Jag's Steak and Seafood, 5980 West Chester Road, West Chester Twp.; jags.com.

Best Place for Stargazing

1. Voice of America Park; westchesteroh.org.

2. Oxford; cityofoxford.org.

3. At home.

Best One-tank Weekend Getaway

1. Nashville/Brown County, Ind.; browncounty.com.

2. Hueston Woods State Park; 6962 Brown Road, Oxford; huestonwoodsresort.com.

3. Great Wolf Lodge, 2501 Great Wolf Drive, Mason; greatwolflodge.com.

Best One-hour Bike Ride

1. Hamilton Bike Path; hamilton-city.org.

2. The Little Miami Scenic Bike Trail; miamivalleytrails.org.

3. Miami Whitewater Forest; 9001 Mount Hope Road, Cincinnati; hamiltoncountyparks.org.

Best Place to In-line Skate

1. Oxford Skatepark; 6025 Fairfield Road, Oxford; cityofoxford.org.

2. Hamilton Bike Path; hamilton-city.org.

3. Skateway, 100 Sal Blvd., Trenton; skateway.com.

Best Place to People Watch

1. Traders World; 601 Union Road, Monroe; tradersworldmarket.com.

2. Kings Island; Kinds Island Drive, Mason; www1.cedarfair.com/kingsisland/index.cfm.

3. Voice of America Park; westchesteroh.org.

Best Place for Kids to Play

1. Smith Park; 500 Tytus Ave., Middletown.

2. Joyce Park; 194 Forest Lake Lane, Fairfield.

3. At home.

Best Place to Avoid the Kids

1. Antique stores.

2. Froggy Blues Cafe, 10 American Way, Suite A, Monroe.

3. Bingo halls.

Best Mall or Shopping Center

1. Bridgewater Falls, Princeton Road and Bypass 4, Hamilton.

2. Kenwood Towne Centre, 7875 Montgomery Road, Cincinnati.

3. Tri-County Mall, 11700 Princeton Pike, Cincinnati; tricountymall.com.

Best Section on a Friday highlighting Things to Do

1. GO!